by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The management company overseeing the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is inching closer to having a corporate sponsor for the two-year-old minor league park.
Nan Coyle, the director of sales and marketing for SMG, said she has several offers from what she calls “regional” companies that are interested in signing on for a multi-year deal to obtain naming rights to the Baseball Grounds, the home park of the Jacksonville Suns. Coyle declined to divulge the companies that have formally responded to SMG’s request for proposal, but did say one company is pushing the issue.
“We have had a pretty serious offer from one company and others are still looking at it,” said Coyle.
The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville was built for $35 million as part of the Better Jacksonville Plan and it opened in spring of 2003. The first year the park was open, the Suns easily broke their all-time single season attendance record with 359,979, a figure that also lead the Class Double-A Southern League in attendance. Last year, the Suns put over 400,000 in the seats and once again led the Southern League.
The Suns’ general manager, Peter Bragan Jr., said he believes his team can surpass last year’s numbers.
“I have hired more sales staff and we’ve sold more group outings,” said Bragan, adding that Budweisers for a Buck on Thursday nights have become one of the team’s biggest draws.
A steady increase in attendance makes the naming rights to the park that much more alluring but it’s still a major financial decision for many companies. Recent history, with companies like Enron (the former sponsor of the Houston Astros ball park) going bankrupt, has also made committing to sponsorship a risky public relations decision as well as financial venture.
“Naming rights are a big obligation on a company’s behalf,” said Coyle, declining to discuss how much SMG would like per year. “Every deal has different elements. We would like a multi-year deal. It needs to be at least 10 years.”
Bragan said he has no role in the negotiating process but has requested that SMG include him at some point, regardless of the capacity.
“I have asked that if they choose someone, that I at least get to talk to them,” said Bragan, adding he’s not at all fond of changing the name of his team’s park. “I don’t want it to be anything but the Baseball Grounds at Jacksonville.”
Bragan said there are two reasons he’s against corporate sponsorship of ball parks and stadiums. One affects his bottom line and the other irks the baseball traditionalist in him.
“It costs me money to have a corporate sponsor for the park,” he said. “I have to give them a suite and signage space. Also, I don’t like the idea of selling naming rights to stadiums and ball parks. I guess I’m an old-timer or old-fashioned. I like ‘Gator Bowl’ better than I like ‘Alltel Stadium’.”
Coyle said the deal requires City Council approval and may take several more months to finalize. She also said SMG is still seeking interested companies.
“We do not have a particular time frame, but the earlier the better,” said Coyle. “We’ve been pitching this for two years. This could take another 150 to 200 days.”